Unthankful

Years ago friend and family member R.O. Woodworth encouraged me to “take a book of the Bible and make it your own – become an expert in it.”  That was good advice and, although I am far from being an expert in it, I have tried to make the books of First and Second Timothy “mine.”  And on this Thanksgiving Day 2009, I reach into the third chapter of 2 Timothy and extract a single word from the second verse – “unthankful.”

Paul was assuring Timothy that a perilous day would come when, among other less-than-admirable character qualities, men would become unthankful.  Apparently that day has arrived in America.

Now that isn’t to say that millions of Americans aren’t thankful, especially on this day President Abraham Lincoln set aside each year as a special time to acknowledge in our hearts and our prayers the Almighty for His abundant blessings upon us.  Unfortunately, like so many other holidays, we have the propencity for losing the true meaning of the occasion, it seems to me.  However, unthankful isn’t about a singular day on the calendar so much as it is about our national heart attitude.  Collectively, we no longer have an attitude of gratitude.

Perhaps the problem begins as we lose our focus on the One who has provided us with all things.  After all, as we remove The Light from our country and culture, there remains increasing darkness.  But removing the One who is The Light in so many ways, thanks to a few complainers about things like the Ten Commandments being displayed publicly, prayers before athletic events in our schools, and nativity scenes on public property, just to name a few, also removes His blessings in many other ways.  Unthankful.

One of the great dishonesties of our times is editing God from our national history.  From the Mayflower Compact in 1620 and the first Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock, thanksgiving to God has been a part of our national fabric.  To ignore this reality is dishonest … and unthankful … to the One who has protected and provided.

The reality is this – if we are not grateful to Almighty God for His blessings, well … we’ll soon be on our own.  But how well is that working for us so far?  We now have seemingly unsolvable financial woes.  Illegal immigration is rampant.  Healthcare is becoming disastrous.  And the list of national ills continues to mount while America complains.  Unthankful.

The Psalmist offers hope in Psalm 107.  Four different people groups in that passage come to their “wits end,” before finally crying out to God.  However, each time they called on the Almighty, He heard their cries and delivered them from their distresses, their dangers, and their destructions.  Therein lies the hope for our nation, but one has to wonder how distressed America must become before we will return to a focus on Him! 

Wouldn’t Thanksgiving Day 2009 be a great time to do just that?  Let’s individually tune our hearts to sing His praise and make this day something more than family, football and feasts.  Let’s be thankful … to the Lord God Almighty … and in everything, give thanks!

“O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!” (Psalm 107:8)

Veterans Day 2009

There are three American holidays that are perhaps my favorites – 4^th of July, Memorial Day, and Veterans Day.  For almost 30 years, I toured America with a special production in tribute to our nation and our veterans – A SALUTE TO AMERICA!   And while my thoughts always turn to the many veterans, both the deceased and the living, my thoughts primarily turn to my own son, USMC Captain Justin Dale Peterson, who the morning after his 32^nd birthday, was killed in Iraq on Sunday, October 1, 2006. 

I had finished preaching that Sunday evening, October 1, 2006, IL, and was sitting with Pastor and Mrs. Bill Herald in a restaurant in Sparta (IL), waiting on our meal to arrive, when my phone vibrated.  It was my daughter-in-law Patty, asking where I was, if I was alone, and if I was driving. 

Patty said, “Dad, this is going to be a memorable night for you – Justin was killed in Iraq this morning!”  Within an hour, I had checked out of my room and was driving back to Michigan – heartbroken – mind racing. 

I pondered the possibilities of what had happened in Iraq.  I wondered if my youngest son Joshua, also a Marine and in Iraq – was okay.  Did he know yet?  How quickly could they extract him from harm’s way and head him home to share his tears with our own?

Within a few hours of receiving the worst news of his life, Joshua was transported to Kuwait to Amsterdam to Detroit, where our family met him.  Justin’s body arrived only a few hours later in the afternoon.  Our extended family spent the evening inter-acting at the funeral home – processing what was happening.

After receiving thousands of families at the visitation, and after a standing-room-only funeral, Justin’s body was laid to rest in the Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Michigan – with military honors. 

On behalf of the entire Peterson family, I would like to express our gratitude to you as Americans for your concern, prayers, and support of our troops.  The personal contacts & many acts of kindness & service have been received with humility, as we realized in a new way the vast volume of friends that are ours!

These expressions have lead us to know beyond description that Justin’s life, military service, and death are not in vain.

While life has always presented challenges, I think we’ve faced the largest one to-date – in the death of our oldest son.  However, I must tell you – regardless of the indescribable pain that we feel, it is matched by a justifiable pride in our Marine, as well as an eternal hope. 

 Our son lived and died that others throughout the world might be free – even in Iraq.  He volunteered for a commission as an officer, as a leader, and as an example in the United States Marine Corp – how to live, how to work, how to serve, and even how to die.  To have known Captain Justin Dale Peterson, United States Marine – would make even a liberal skeptic proud to be an American. 

You see, ladies and gentlemen, America has been a blessed nation since our very inception because of the caliber and character of the men and women who have lead us!  Add to that the fact that God has been a part of this nation from before the beginning!  Our founding fathers put the name of God on everything they built and acknowledged Him in everything they said.

While there are a comparative few in our nation who seem to resent God being credited for His contribution to America’s greatness, most Americans still understand that respect and reverence for God is essential for maintaining greatness, since “all the nations that forget God shall be turned into hell,” according to the psalmist David.

Another reason that the United States of America has become such a great nation has been the deep commitment of our men and women in uniform.

While the decade of the 60s and the Vietnam era was a tempestuous time for American patriotism, and during which period many of our own citizens showed little respect for Old Glory, the WWII generation was still alive and well.  That generation of sailors and soldiers helped this nation keep her bearings and maintain a stabilizing effect on our culture.

For Americans of my parents generation, love of country has been almost second nature.  It was passed on to many of us by our parents, our teachers, our civic leaders, and even Hollywood.  I mean, you can’t get much more patriotic than John Wayne!

We continue to hold dear the quest of our founding fathers to produce a land where all men can live freely and seek personal satisfaction.  We fiercely appreciate the sacrifice of American servicemen and women who bled and died so that we could remain free.

Further, we live in the hope that the fires of American freedom will continue to burn long after we’re gone, don’t we?  If 9/11 does nothing else for us as a nation, it should have served as a clarion wake-up call for citizens to appreciate our freedoms that have often been taken for granted, and to renew our vigilance in defending them.

I’m not sure how you think about that American symbol that is known throughout the globe as the epitome of freedom, but my heart still swells with pride at the slightest glimpse of the Stars and Stripes – Old Glory!  While a growing number of people throughout the world may hold those colors – the red, white, and blue – in contempt, they must do so in sheer ignorance of the benefits they derive from America’s positive influence upon the world.

With the unprecedented rash of global terrorism – terrorism that has now come to American soil – I think it is high time that we had a revival of old-fashioned patriotism again, as well as a renewal of our commitment to the principles and precepts that have made this nation great from her inception!

Contrary to the incessant rhetoric of our detractors, Americans still enjoy the greatest freedoms of any nation on earth.  Compare what we enjoy in abundance with the pitiful existence of many nations who have not retained God in their knowledge, and you can understand that many of them are angry because we revel in that which they themselves cannot attain.

When our founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, they mutually pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor, to each other and to America.  During the course of the seven-year war that followed, nine of the signers died of wounds or hardships, 17 lost everything they owned, and five were captured or imprisoned.  They risked all they had, sacrificing everything for freedom.  They all kept their honor.

Today, our nation is at war – a very different and non-traditional war against a very dangerous and elusive enemy from without.  We also must awaken to another reality – our greatest enemy may be from within our own ranks.  This enemy threatens the principles and values that freedom-loving people hold dear – equality, self-governance, and the rule of law.

President John F. Kennedy, in the midst of another struggle, once observed,  “When there is a visible enemy to fight in open combat, many serve, all applaud, and the tide of patriotism runs high.  But when there is a long, slow struggle, with no immediate visible foe, your choice will seem hard indeed.”

Today, our enemy is not always visible, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood alone, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (Eph 6:12 KJV)  We must have patience and perseverance in this conflict to preserve our freedoms.

That will require that we as Americans, moreover as Christian Americans, that we rise to the occasion and the great need of America, and become once again a people of great character.  The good character of the founding fathers will not suffice.  We must boldly arise as men and women of faith and become internally what the Book instructs us to be.  Character is what I really am at the core of my being.

We must also become people of great conviction once again.  It is high time that the people who profess to know God determine to live like we know Him.  Like David of old, facing the giant Goliath, we must remind each other, “Is there not a cause?!”  Conviction is the bottom line of all my thinking – it’s what I have concluded as vitally important – important enough for which to die if necessary.

We must also become a nation of people with great courage.  Political correctness is no replacement for the combination of good character, great conviction, and great courage.  Without character, we become dishonest and self-centered, which unfortunately and increasingly describes our country, including many of our national leaders. 

 Without conviction, we lose our bearings, our moral compass, again descriptive of our nation – a country adrift morally.  Without courage, we fail to act on that which we profess to be and to believe.  America has gone from a president who could courageously say, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall!” to one who apologizes for America to rouge nations wherever he travels!  And that makes those of us with good character, convictions and courage nauseous!

 (Jos 1:6 KJV)  Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.

 Men like our first president George Washington, our first chief justice John Jay, and many others exhibited character, conviction, and courage from the beginning, as they secured for us a more perfect union.  The legions of courageous men of women of scripture and of our own national history are just that – history – and will not suffice for today.  Through the centuries they have all run their legs of the relay-race of life and today the baton has been placed into our hands.  We, like those who have run before us, must be strong and of good courage. 

  (Jos 1:9 KJV)  Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

 Viewing the landscape of modern culture, I must admit, there is cause for grave concern on every hand.  However, the visible ills of America’s political and financial dilemmas are only symptomatic of the invisible and increasing immorality of character that robs us of conviction and renders us shivering cowards, void of courage, before the world that needs the Savior that we claim to own.

 On this Veterans Day, let’s concentrate on and honor our forefathers and the fighting men and women of this nation for their courage, their vision, and their sacrifices.  Let’s remember how precious our rights and freedoms and those who have secured them for us!

 And veterans, we honor your service, your courage, your countless sacrifices at sea, in the air, and on distant fields of battle.  May God continue to bless this great nation, and the past, present, and future members of our Armed Forces and their families.

Remembering Justin

Thirty-five years ago this morning (much earlier than I’m writing this), I was making phone calls and pacing the corridor in front of the nursery at Crittenden Hospital in Rochester, Michigan.  I don’t remember his birth weight.  I don’t recall his length.  However, I can never forget him! 

To a father, the birth of a child is special, but the birth of a son is somehow extra-special.  And for thirty-two years, Justin Dale Peterson found a special place in the hearts of those who got to know him.  His impact was larger than life to many of us—so much so that our memories of him are almost as real as life itself—only he is not here in person.

For example, somewhere in the Philippine Islands, Bob and Susan Tevault serve as missionaries.  However, in the early 1980s they were serving as principal and elementary school teacher respectively at Paducah Christian Academy, the educational arm of the Broadway Baptist Church where I served as senior pastor.  Or somewhere in Heaven, Juanita Wagers, who in the first years of Justin’s life loved him in her home for eight hours each weekday as his mother worked.  Or right here in Southfield, Michigan, just like he was doing during Justin’s junior high and high school years, Dr. Ken Hall will occupy that office at Southfield Christian School.  Certainly he will never forget the impact that Justin, a regular visitor to his office, had amongst the school family.  (Notice that I haven’t claimed the impact to always be positive, although in the big picture, that impact certainly was!)

The list of people, places, and events the lives of others intersected with Justin’s are too varied and exhaustive to write about here and now—fellow students, soccer team members at every level of soccer from AYSO through Taylor University, neighbors, friends, and fellow Marines.  However, that influence was cut short three years ago tomorrow in a freak non-combat accident in the sands of Iraq, where Justin was serving on a border transition team. 

Hold that thought (about a life of influence being cut short), and let me ask a sobering question—one that I’m asking myself on this 35^th birthday of my first son.  What impact and influence does my own life have, given the way I am currently living?  You see, any of our lives could be cut short—an accident, a sudden medical problem, or a terminal illness to which we succumb.  I know, I know, thinking about dying isn’t a pleasant thought on which to dwell.  However, since “it is appointed unto men once to die,” perhaps we would be wise to use various mile markers along the road of life to evaluate how we are spending the lives we have.

That being said, how are you spending your life?  What impact is your life having on other people within the circle of your influence?  Each of us certainly has a circle of influence—some larger, some smaller.  The question isn’t how large or small, but rather “What difference does my life make in the lives of those within the circle that is mine?”  Is it positive and wholesome and beneficial for others or is my life a negative influence that drains others and drags them down?

BTW, do you pray?  If so, would you pray that both you as the reader and I as the writer, and as our lives intersect in this cyber-moment of time, will make daily decisions that will augment the positive influence of our lives to the benefit of those around us for time and eternity?  Thanks for that momentary partnership in prayer!

And since you’re already praying, why not pray for my wonderful daughter-in-law Patty and Justin’s three children, Jared (9), Jayden (5), and Caitlin (3) … and Justin’s four siblings (Charity, Jordan, Joshua, and Joy) … and … well … you get the idea.

Well, I sure do miss my boy, especially today.  And I know that I’m certainly not the only one wiping tears, swallowing lumps in my throat, and remembering … and laughing.  (You see, if remembering Justin doesn’t make you laugh, you probably didn’t really know him!)  But I don’t intend to waste the pain and ponderings.  There are many things in life that we have to go through, but it’s always a choice whether we grow through them. 

Now, let’s go make a positive impact within our respective circles of influence while we have today!  Cheers!

Justin Dale Peterson 2006

More for the Kingdom

Once again, I sit in an airport – Amsterdam’s Schiphol, hurriedly typing a note to update ministry friends and partners on what is happening recently.  Hurry as I might, I know this will not get out to until I am in Amsterdam, or even back in Detroit, but I wanted to share the latest news with you.

Two weeks ago, in our BBF-GB camp in Cefn Lea Park (Wales), with approximately 144 campers total, we were privileged to see 15-17 campers come to place their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior.  Due to other responsibilities, I was not at the camp for the closing ceremonies on Friday morning, and I have been given two different numbers.  However, on their own testimonies, at least 15 young people came to faith in Christ.

After a brief visit with my middle son Jordan in Oxford, where he has been working this summer at Oxford University, my journey took me back northward to Huntingdon-Alconberry, where I was privileged to spend time with Carol and Jose Esquibel and the wonderful congregation of their labors.  I truly anticipate future ministry opportunities with this gracious family.  Their immaculate church complex is located across the street from the Alconberry Royal Air Force base, and it was truly a pleasure to interact with both RAF military personal as well as a few American families who serve on the same base, some as DOD contractors.

Following the morning services and a wonderful noon meal in the Esquibel home, I raced back to the White House, where Dan Brown and the LIFT-UK 09 team had already settled in.  After a day of rest for them, we headed northwest to Cloverley Hall Christian Conference Centre and the LIFT-UK 09 camp.  These camps focus primarily on evangelism, and we were not disappointed in the results!  The spirit of God was self-evident in less than 48 hours, and by the closing of the camp Friday morning, 30 young people became Christ followers.  But it didn’t end there!

I just received word a few minutes ago from Dan Brown, who spent the night last night in the Birmingham area near the airport to catch earlier flights, that another young man had accepted Christ as Savior after camp was over, and over the telephone!

Fifteen teenagers one week, and thirty-one young people another – a total of 46 new heavenly-bound people … because you prayed and invested financially.  Somehow, at the end of the day, that all seems to me like a wise investment of our lives and financial resources.  Thanks for being a part of it, even by proxy.

BTW, do you pray?  If so, would you now pray for these young believers?  Would you also pray for those pastors and Christian leaders in the area churches who have the awesome privilege of following through with discipleship?  Would you also pray as we endeavor to multiply the number of camps in the next few years?  Imagine the impact for the kingdom!

Got to run catch that flight now!  Cheers!

It’s Been A While

Well, it’s been a while, but here I sit in my “On-Line Cafe office” at Detroit’s Metropolitan Airport, waiting on NW 48 to Amsterdam.  It’s been a while (too long) since I traveled this route, via AMS, to Birmingham, England.  Perhaps money and scheduling are common problems for many of us these days.

Tomorrow morning when I land in the West Midlands region of England, I’ll be met by my friend Damian Pickett, who is a wonderful ministry partner, along with his precious wife Ruth Ann.  They exemplify what it means to have the heart of servants.  I always anticipate the time we get to spend together.  Damian is the lead pastor of the Kingsmead Church, whose building was originally built in the 1700s as a preaching station for none other than John Wesley.  I’m always thrilled to speak there (as I will this Sunday), and thrilled to know that three centuries after Wesley preached there, the Gospel is still being heralded from that specific location.  Not all historic church builds have faired as well – some even destroyed or converted in Islamic Training Centers.

Next week is our first week of camp with the Baptist Bible Fellowship Churches of Great Britain – and is always a productive time.  In recent years, this camp has always encouraged my personal prayer life and cultivated my love and passion for young people even further.  Every day, I walk several miles in the Cannock Chase National Forest, praying by name for young people who should place their faith in Christ.  During the evening services, I also pray, and what a joy it is to hear the reports each morning as leaders share who has accepted Christ as Savior the evening prior!  I then draw a line under their names, and then pray with thanksgiving for each of them as I pray through my list each morning on my walks.

BTW, do you pray?  If so, would you pray each morning specifically for the young people who will attend these camps over the next three consecutive weeks?  It may very well be your prayers that God would answer that makes an eternal difference.

The following week, my friend Dan Brown and the LIFT Student Ministries team will return for the second year.  We anticipate going over the 100-mark this year.  Again, please pray that many teenagers will come to place their faith in Jesus Christ.

Finally, please pray for the churches who will follow-up on the new converts in a timely manner.

Well, time to close up “the office” and make that long walk to the gate A56 at McNamara Terminal.  From here, I think it’s a country mile (at least at this time of evening), but the walk will do me well.  I’m sure there will come a time during the 8-hour night flight, sitting in that Airbus A 330 seat, that I’ll wish I was taking a long walk!

Cheers!

The Greater Tragedy

This past week, the world has been rocked by the deaths of three American entertainment icons- Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson.  Within minutes of the deaths of these Hollywood celebrities, I had received the news on my Blackberry from the New York Times.

Amazing, isn’t it- that within perhaps a two-hour window, the entire world knows about the death of the King of Pop, while two thousand years after the death of the King of Kings, the majority of 6.7 billion world residents have yet to hear even one bulletin, in their own language that they can understand, about the death of Jesus Christ?

Our world is consumed with three human beings who basically lived  for what was in life for them, while the eternal Son of God became a man, lived a short life to the profound benefit of mankind, and died a horrific, yet vicarious, death for all the world.  But can I ask a blunt question of Christians everywhere?  In the light of eternity, do you think it’s more important that the world hear the news about Ed, Farrah, and Michael or about Jesus Christ?

Let me be equally blunt about something else.  CNN, BBC, Fox and Sky News will see that the world hears every kinky detail of these three glamorous lives and  tragic deaths, but it is the responsibility of the Church to let our world know about the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

Breaking news always carries with it a certain urgency.  The world media tries to break their news stories before their competitor stations can.  As believers, as the Church, our competition is two-fold … Satan and time.  Simply put, we do not know exactly how much time we have to get the Good News to a dying world … and it’s almost eternity!  Time must be short!  Surely there should be an urgency in the hearts of believers to get our news story to the world!

Jesus said, “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.”  (John 9:4 KJV)  If that work was important and urgent two thousand years ago when Christ walked in this world, how much moreso now!  Why should we be going with the Gospel with renewed urgency?

First, because we’ve been commanded by the Heavenly Father to “go and tell.”

Second, simply because we love God.  Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”  Far too often, the lukewarm church of modern Laodecia wants to claim with the lips that we love Him, while the actions of our daily lives tell a different story.  As my mother used to say (and probably your mother said it too), “Actions speak louder than words!”

Finally, we should be going with the Good News because the eternity-bound world around us needs to hear the Good News while there is still time.  Jesus said it over two thousand years ago: “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few.”

I refuse to sit idly by, watching my world sink further into hell, without giving my best shot at heralding the Good News of the Gospel far and wide.  If GOd’s ear is not heavy that it cannot hear, and if God’s arm is not shortened that it cannot save, then there is reason to believe that God will use any of us who are willing, prepared, and serving Him!

Most who will read this understand that, as believers, we have been given a task to accomplish … Go into all the world and make the Gospel available to every creature.  Each of us understands that time is short and eternity is only one step, one heartbeat away.  BTW, how far from eternity are you?  What impact are you making in the lives of others for eternity?

Folks, it’s almost eternity!  We must go!

BTW, do you pray?  If so, would you pray for Debbie and me as we travel today through Sunday night late to the Indianapolis, Indiana area?  I preach Sunday for my dear friend Rick Cochran and The Bridge Church in Fortville (IN).  We will also get to spend a few hours with my daughter Charity, son-in-law Brandon, and granddaughter Brynn tonight and tomorrow!

Brandon, Brynn, & Charity Geddes

Cheers.

Camps Just Ahead!

With summer vacation season also comes the opportunities of camp ministries.  The same is true in the United Kingdom, and we have three camps that now seem to be approaching at the speed of light! 

In July, I speak daily to youth leaders to encourage and augment their ministries through their local churches at the Senior High Baptist Bible Fellowship of Great Britain.  This is always an encouragement to me as I witness the growing potential to impact the entire UK for Christ.

Dale w/ two great youth workers

During the first week of August, we partner with Dan Brown and the LIFT staff for a second year of camp together, focusing on unsaved teenagers.  Last year just over 50% of the young people who attended this camp accepted Christ as their Savior.  Currently it appears that we will matriculate almost double the number of campers from last year—from 60 to well over 100—from all indications.  Relative to this particular camp, I need your help.

First, I need your prayers.  Pray with us that God is already at work in the hearts minds, and lives of these campers, even before they arrive.  Pray that their hearts and minds will be open to the messages and music throughout the week.  Pray that many will come to put their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior.  Pray for the local church workers who will disciple these converts.

Second, could you financially underwrite the cost of even one of these campers, making a week of camp available to them?  The proven track record shows that when we get them into camp, many of them will accept Christ.  Your investment of $250USD will help provide the camping experience for one camper—and dollar-for-dollar, this yields greater results in evangelism than anything.  Will you help?

While all personal support goes to Central Missionary Clearinghouse, all project funds are handled by Gospel Alive, Inc., the Michigan-based 501(c)3 through which I work internationally.  This avoids any potential “co-mingling” of funds and clear accounting.

If you (or your church) can help, please make these checks payable to Gospel Alive, Inc., and mailed to 200 Woodstone Road, Waterford, MI 48327.  These funds are needed by July 30, 2009, if at all possible.

Thanks in advance for investing in the young people of the United Kingdom—young people with the potential to shake the UK for the cause of Jesus Christ!

Yours and His for Souls,

Dale

P.S.  If you will help, please email me at dale@dalepeterson.co.uk to let me know.  Thanks!

Remembering

When I returned to my office in Waterford yesterday, my “cup was full and overflowing.”  I have been blessed with five of the most wonderful children for which any parent could ever hope.  But the specific reason my “cup was full” yesterday was because of time spent with my daughter-in-law Patty.  My oldest son and her husband Justin was killed while serving in Iraq almost three years ago widow).  We had just spent seven of the most beautiful hours together. 

Captain Justin Peterson

I had picked Patty up at her house at 6:00 in morning  and had driven to the residence of Michigan’s Governor Jennifer Granholm, where about 50 or so of us had breakfast.  This annual gathering is for the parents and spouses of Michigan’s Fallen Heroes.  If the conversation during the ride out to Lansing hadn’t already put us both into tears, the time with other Michigan families who have an empty seat at their table each meal did.

 As we drove away following the breakfast, I asked, “Well, Patty, what would you like to do next?”  “Well, Dad,” she replied, “(do you) want to drive out to Great Lakes National Cemetery?”  An hour or so later, we arrived at the ever-expanding national cemetery.  With groundskeepers putting the finishing touches on everything for Memorial Day Weekend, and with flags blowing in the breeze against a nearly cloudless sky, Patty and I stood beside Justin’s grave and talked, laughed, and cried together.  She shared with me things that I had never known before … things like how she had scattered the ashes of Zoe, Justin’s Rottweiler, in the snow above his grave after his ten-year old pet had to be put down … and how we both have these conversations when we’re there by ourselves as though Justin was listening to our every word (silly to some perhaps, but cathartic to us) … and how she wants just the two of us to drive out in Justin’s “dream machine” – a Jeep Wrangler (Michigan license plate “JDP2”) – with the top off and revisit his grave together sometime this summer.

Patty, Jayden & Caitlin at a Detroit Tigers game

 We had also planned to have lunch together that day too, so as we finally drove away from the cemetery, I asked, “So—what do you feel like eating for lunch?”  Patty looked over at me with a mischievous tinkle in her eye and grin on her face and exuberantly exclaimed, “I feel like Mac ‘n Cheese!”  Well, that could only mean one place—the Clarkston Union—Justin’s favorite restaurant in Clarkston, and his standard dish – macaroni and cheese!  For the next hour and thirty minutes we spent some of the greatest quality “father/daughter-in-law” time together that we’ve ever had – laughing, talking, crying, reminiscing, and philosophizing!  And in spite of our losses—she a husband and I a son—we again concluded that life must go on, even when it’s tough.

 And while I have my periodic moments of emotional meltdown, (because I still miss my boy), my pain surely must pale when compared to a young wife and mother who sacrificed her husband for the cause of freedom.  You see, ladies and gentlemen, all across this nation there are untold numbers of wives and mothers who today will be strong for their children, parents, friends, and neighbors, but tonight, when the kids are tucked into bed and are fast asleep, will close their bedroom doors, wonder how they’ll rear their children alone, worry over how to pay the bills, and cry themselves to sleep while clutching a pillow rather than the rock-hard body of their Marine.

Jayden's & Justin's boots

 And surely, in a nation of 300 million people, I’m not the only grandpa who will set aside my morning’s work to babysit a little three-year-old girl whose daddy went off to war two days after she was born, but whose dad came home in a flag-draped coffin, and will forever be to her the stranger in the photographs and the voice on the recordings of children’s books left behind, lest daddy be forgotten. 

 My friends, don’t let your family forget what Memorial Day is all about.  Put a face on it for them each year.  And when you pray this weekend, include Patty, Jared, Jayden, and Caitlin Peterson in your prayers.  And by all means, thank the Lord for the men and women of the Armed Forces of the United States of America who sacrificed their lives for our freedom, as well for those families left behind who make the sacrifice daily as they awaken each morning to an empty pillow on the other half the bed, and empty seat at the table each meal, and an empty “hole” in their hearts 24/7.

"On behalf of ... a grateful nation ... "

Yet, in spite of the void in our lives, we have a responsibility to each other—as individual families and as Americans; therefore, we face forward and carry on.  Semper fi.

 Cheers!

 Dale (JDP1)

Freedom Is Never Free

Blessed

Blessed!  That’s perhaps the best key word that comes to mind as I consider the experience of a couple of Sunday evening ago.  Let me explain.

Friends Rick and Mick Vigneulle, were traveling with me in England and Wales.  We had just concluded the evening service at Woodhill Baptist Church in Colwyn Bay, Wales, when a 76-year-old gentleman approached me, standing immediately in front of me, only inches from my face, and asking, “Do you know how far back we go?”  After thinking for only a second or two, I replied, “Fours years, I think.”

With eyes sparkling, Arnold Rigby retorted, “No, we go back to 1976.  You were preaching in Bury, England the night I accepted Christ as my Savior!”  Over thirty years ago, a team of singers from Liberty University (then Liberty Baptist College) and I were traveling for the first time to Great Britain.  Our closing service was on a Sunday evening in the Bury/Manchester area in a church whose pastor (Forrest Tutor) was an American.  While Arnold Rigby was only one person among many who became Christ followers that evening, there was another adult woman who made that eternal decision at the close of that same service – Arnold’s then-74-year-old mother, now with the Lord.

Arnold Rigby and Dale Peterson

What makes this so special to me personally is this – Arnold, his wife Sheila, and daughter Miriam are some of the most humble, godly, servant-hearted people that I know.  When I first met Arnold and Sheila, they were working long hours in the commercial kitchen at a youth camp where I was speaking.  Miriam, then a college student, was helping in food services as well.  I have admired these three believers since I first met them.   And to realize that the Lord had used my service for Him, as I have prayed that He will, leaves me feeling … well … blessed!

BTW, do you pray?  If so, would you pause for a moment and ask the Lord to continue to use me for His glory?  I would be grateful!  Cheers!

Major Victory

Ten days ago I boarded my flight out of Detroit feeling tired. This morning as I await my flight to Amsterdam and connect with the flight back to Michigan the weariness continues—only with a renewed sense of fulfillment.  With nights usually short and days quite long, the activities from before daylight to well after darkness, the results have been a God-thing.  It’s the kind of things for which I live! 

With less than twenty-four hours of preparation on the ground, my friend Damian Pickett and I waited at the Birmingham (England) airport for the arrival of three additional ministry partners—Brandon, Mick, and Rick Vigneulle.  Their delayed flight finally arrived almost two hours late but after ramping up an $80 short-term parking bill, we were on our way.  After a quick meal and short stop-over at our “headquarters” in Cannock, we pointed our hired van toward Buckley (Wales) for our first youth rally, hosted by Bob and Jan Marshall and the Ebenezer Baptist Church.  Result:  ten teenagers and two adults placed their faith in Christ as Savior!

The itinerary placed us in Llanfairfechan (Wales) with Kevin and Kim Davis, who were the kind of hosts that everyone in itinerant ministry loves to run across.  After a power-packed youth rally in the town’s community centre (Result:  18 young people whose names were added to the Lamb’s Book of Life), the Davis’s drove us to near the top of one of Wales tallest mountains and the nicest bed and breakfast I think I’ve ever experienced.  After viewing the Irish Sea/Atlantic Ocean and the town lights below from my open window, I signed deeply (Debbie wasn’t with me to enjoy these wonderfully romantic moments) and retired for the evening.

Following a leisurely breakfast, the Davis family escorted us throughout the region, packing our day and evening with a tour of castles, villages and shops. Of course, our time in the village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogogh (yes, that is correctly spelled) was mostly spent trying to learn how to pronounce the town’s name!  (Result:  Brain fatigue … and bubble bath thingies for Debbie)

Sunday services took us to Libanus Baptist Church with Kevin Davis and Colwyn Bay’s Woodhill Baptist Church with Leonard James. (Result:  8 became Christ followers and 11 trusted Christ in these churches respectively).  After the drive back to The White House in Cannock and getting to bed at 3:00a Monday morning, we took the rest of the day off, resting and running a few errands, but headed to Wrexham, Wales Tuesday morning in time to meet Dixie and Larry Quade for a wonderful Dixie-cooked lunch, some rest and conversation, and an evening service.  (Result:  9 adults and 2 young people accepted Christ as Savior)

Wednesday morning we were up at 5:00a, rolling by 6:00a, after a night’s rest in the home of the Quade’s, and racing to a school assembly at the Hillgrove School in Wrexham by 8:45a.  (Result:  Major doors are now opening into public schools because of this one particular assembly’s success!)

We treated ourselves to lunch at Hard Rock Café in Manchester on our way back to “headquarters” at The White House, where we set up the equipment and conducted our final youth rally.  (Result: 4 more young people making Jesus Christ their Savior)

This offers only an overview of how God was working, but I’ll give you a couple of follow-up articles over the next few days.  Right now, I just need to catch my breath before heading back out the door for a weekend of missions emphasis in local churches here in Michigan. 

BTW, do you pray?  If so, would you pray for these 51 people who came to faith in Christ and the effective discipleship for each of them through the local churches with whom we are partnering?

Cheers!